Esso have run a consultation on the proposed route for their replacement aviation fuel pipeline that runs from Fawley Refinery near Southampton to its West London Terminal storage facility at Hounslow. The result has now been announced, click here to download. The preferred route avoids Farnham.
For the northern section of the pipeline. between Alton and Heathrow, the consultation considered three ‘corridors’:
Option J, adjacent to the existing pipeline which runs west of Farnham, south of Fleet;
Option M, travelling through Farnham town centre;
Option Q, that skirts south of Farnham through the Alice Holt Forest, Frensham, south of the Bourne Wood before turning north towards Moor Park Way and on towards the old A31.
The Farnham Society suggested that the new pipeline should be routed in the corridor adjacent to the existing pipeline (Option J). This route has now been put forward by Esso as the preferred route. Their analysis recognises the status of Farnham as a historic market town, also acknowledging traffic problems in the town.
Information is available on the website www.slpproject.co.uk .
There will be a full public inquiry in 2019 with the works starting in 2021 and lasting two years.